BERLIN – France's economy minister is calling for a strong eurozone "economic government" with its own budget, and is arguing that preserving Europe's shared currency will require financial transfers from its strongest countries.

In an interview with German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Emmanuel Macron was quoted as saying that a commissioner with far-reaching powers should be put in charge of an "economic government" that would be able to secure financial transfers for countries in crisis or promote reforms. He argued that countries using the euro should put part of their incomes into its budget.

Germany, Europe's biggest economy, is deeply averse to creating a "transfer union." But Macron said if eurozone members continue to object to "any form of financial transfer in the currency union, we can forget the euro and the eurozone."